Scene safety, scene safety, scene safety....

[DwayneEMTP]

My apologies if this has been posted before, but perhaps it couldn't hurt to see it again?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvDEVhR7u4U

What are this man's errors?

Edited to add question and change formatting.

Edited December 7, 2010 by DwayneEMTP

[Just Plain Ruff]

My apologies if this has been posted before, but perhaps it couldn't hurt to see it again?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvDEVhR7u4U

What are this man's errors?

Edited to add question and change formatting.

This was terrible video to watch but here are his errors.

Big farm tank cannister leaking white vapors - walking into the vapors and not coming out.

The two people didn't get to come home to their families.

Sometimes the urge to help people in the course of our job blinds us to what will kill us.

I'm sad for his family. He made a terrible mistake and it cost him his life.

PEOPLE HEAR Me - if you see white smoke from a farm cannister - DO NOT FREAKING WALK INTO THE SMOKE.

[HERBIE1]

My apologies if this has been posted before, but perhaps it couldn't hurt to see it again?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvDEVhR7u4U

What are this man's errors?

Edited to add question and change formatting.

Wow. I don't fault the trooper too much. I'm sure they haven't had much- if any- haz mat training, but common sense would dictate you do NOT run into a cloud of unknown vapor- especially when the overturned tank is clearly labeled. He also had to run right past the tank, but this is a classic example of tunnel vision. He saw the man down and did not check the scene.

As for the fire dept- BAD, and a major fail on many levels. Unknown about wind speed and direction, so unclear if they are even approaching downwind. They essentially did it all wrong. Should be required viewing for any scene safety class.

[Just Plain Ruff]

At least the fire department got out of the trucks with SCBA on.

Fail on dispatch to let the trooper know of the ammonia

Fail on major levels and it left a trooper dead.

Can you imagine what was going through the officers head while he was stuggling to get a breath?

Edited December 7, 2010 by Ruffems

[Lone Star]

If y'all had paid attention to the lead-in on the video, you'll notice that Fire and EMS were aprised of the situation being hazmat and that it was an anehydrous ammonia spill. This information was not given to the police.

Being that it was in a rural area, he should have suspected that it MIGHT include farm machinery, or chemicals.

Upon arrival, he should have seen the placard on the oveturned trailer and figured that it was a hazmat scene. Upon realizing that he may have a hazmat situation, he should have backed off the scene and used his binoculars to get the numbers off the placard.

If he didn't have a DOT hazmat book in his vehicle (I think they're required by federal law for first responders, police, fire EMS), he could have had the information relayed to the dispatcher who would have been able to call Chemtrec (1-800-CHEMTREC) and had the numbers translated to english.

[Just Plain Ruff]

I did pay attention.

Here is what I wrote "Fail on dispatch to let the trooper know of the ammonia"

Like I said, the trooper was set up for failure from the get go.

[fiznat]

Yikes. I was surprised to see how quickly he went down. Scary.

EDIT: Here's the MSDS-- http://www.wdserviceco.com/MSDSANHY.html

Edited December 7, 2010 by fiznat

[Just Plain Ruff]

Yikes. I was surprised to see how quickly he went down. Scary.

EDIT: Here's the MSDS-- http://www.wdserviceco.com/MSDSANHY.html

I've responded to this type of incident. Had a guy stealing ammonia, broke the coupling to the tank, got it full bore in the face and chest.

His buddy who was standing lookout saw the cloud envelop his friend, saw his friend go down almost immediately, all the while screaming and then gurgling clutching his neck like he was choking. His friend died in less than 15 seconds.

The buddy being a good partner in crime, tucked his tail between his legs and ran to mommies house jsut down the road.

Reeking of ammonia he forced his parents out of the house and we ended up transporting this bright not so ready for darwin award prime time to the hospital.

He is now spending the better part of his child rearing years in prison because as we all know, if someone dies during the commission of a felony you are charged with murder. He WAS and was convicted.

[Lone Star]

I did pay attention.

Here is what I wrote "Fail on dispatch to let the trooper know of the ammonia"

Like I said, the trooper was set up for failure from the get go.

My apologies, Ruffles. I've got my head warped by 'finals week' and apparently misread your post.

LS

[DwayneEMTP]

A few things, lest those that are newer misunderstand and believe that we're critiquing this man instead of learning from him...

His radio traffic was calm and professional, as I'm willing to bet he was as well..

Very rural roads, and though I can't remember if I saw road signs or not, I'm willing to bet that he didn't need them. When I've lived in such areas I've personally know the vast majority of the people that lived there leading me to believe that he is more likely to run into trouble for a friend than he might have been for a stranger.

He saw people down, and again calmly asked that fire and EMS expedite...No whacker behavior here, just fatally poor judgement.

Then, the key to his fatal error in my opinion..He reported "smoke", not vapor, (as in another thread with a patient dying of being' old?'), created this mindset and I'm guessing that in his mind it then became relatively harmless smoke...and ran into it. It seemed that he became aware early on that he was in trouble and tried to drag his pt from the area, but instinctively dragged him toward his car, and into further trouble.

Terribly sad video I think. This is what we have firemen for. One of the things that they train for, why they get all of their almost never used fancy toys, for these times. If there is any question, let them do their stuff.

Dwayne

Yikes. I was surprised to see how quickly he went down. Scary.

EDIT: Here's the MSDS-- http://www.wdservice...m/MSDSANHY.html

Yeah, man, I'd thought that he'd run out the other side of the vapor and we couldn't see him! It couldn't have been more than 5-6 breaths. Thanks for the MSDS! Nasty stuff! I'm guessing that if ALS could have gotten to him right when they arrived that there is little or nothing that they could have done to save him...

Dwayne